Jacksonville Gate station robber had lengthy arrest record

Sunday

May 30, 2010 at 1:33 PM

Matt Soergel

Police on Sunday identified the suspected gunman killed at an Atlantic Boulevard Gate gas station and said his girlfriend, who acted as a lookout during the robbery, has been charged with murder and armed robbery.

Jessie Cooper, 28, was shot and killed shortly before 10 a.m. Saturday by two robbery detectives staking out the store at 8070 Atlantic Blvd. after two Gate stations were robbed on the same day earlier in the week. In all three cases, an employee of the store was robbed of a bag of money in the parking lot outside the business.

Photos: Pictures from the scene of the fatal shooting

Cooper had a lengthy record of arrests, mostly for traffic-related and drug offenses. According to records, he had been found guilty at least eight times for driving with a suspended or revoked license. In 2002 he was found guilty of resisting an officer without violence and contempt of court. In 2001 he was found guilty of possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana.

Shaketa Jones, 28, who police said was Cooper's girlfriend, was charged under Florida law that says that those involved in a crime in which a death occurs can be charged with murder.

Sheriff's Office Director Dwain Senterfitt said she acted as a lookout for Cooper and had been talking on a cell phone with him up until the time of the shooting.

According to the police report, she admitted to being a lookout for Cooper and said she had conducted surveillance on the Gate station during the week.

Senterfitt said police saw Cooper park his Isuzu Rodeo at the Gate station, then walk to a nearby Family Dollar store, where he met Jones outside her vehicle, a Cadillac Escalade. They both got in her car and she dropped him off at the Gate store.

Cooper got back in his vehicle, while Jones parked in a business to the west, where she was arrested immediately after the shooting.

Police said Cooper then approached the store's manager with a bandanna over his face and a gun in his hand. The manager threw a money bag at the gunman's feet, and the robber grabbed it and went to his SUV.

Police officers arrived within seconds and blocked Cooper's car from driving forward, according to the police report. The Rodeo then backed up at a high rate of speed.

Robbery detectives Michael Padgett and Clement Nieto approached the Rodeo and told Cooper to stop, then fired after they saw him through the vehicle's window holding up a gun, Senterfitt said. The SUV made a loop through the parking lot, and the detectives fired again after the suspect kept his weapon aimed at police, he said.

One officer had an AR-15 rifle, the other a shotgun. Police found a Smith & Wesson .380 handgun in the car near Cooper, along with the bag from the store, Senterfitt said.

The police director said it appeared at the scene that the suspect hadn't fired his gun. Cooper was pronounced dead at the scene.

The police report said the store manager heard about four gunshots.

Part of Atlantic Boulevard was closed for at least three hours after the shooting.

Police staked out that Gate station after earlier robberies of Gate stations on Hendricks Avenue and Bowden Road. Senterfitt said he couldn't confirm yet whether Cooper or Jones was involved in those robberies, but that the description of a vehicle involved in all three robberies was the same.

Senterfitt said Nieto, a 21-year veteran, had fired his gun in the line of duty once before, without hitting anyone, but he had no further details on that incident. This was the first time Padgett has been involved in a shooting in his 20-year career, Senterfitt said.

In 1992, Sheriff Jim McMillan decided to fire Nieto after two officers said he kicked and choked a teenage car-theft suspect. A civil service board reinstated his job, however, saying the evidence didn't prove the allegations. In 2000, Nieto won recognition as one of the agency's police officers of the month.

Padgett also was a member of an elite drug-fighting team involved in a drug-planting scandal that got him suspended for 30 days in 1993.

matt.soergel@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4082

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